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Family: American killed in Egypt was a teacher

Saturday - 6/29/2013, 12:41pm EDT

This undated photo provided by the Pochter family shows Andrew Driscoll Pochter. The U.S. State Department confirmed Saturday, June 29, 2013, that Kenyon College student, Andrew Pochter, 21, of Chevy Chase, Md. died Friday, June 28, while photographing clashes between opponents and supporters of President Mohamed Morsi in Alexandria, Egypt. The Pochter family said Pochter went to Alexandria for the summer to teach English to 7 and 8 year old Egyptian children and to improve his Arabic. (AP Photo/Pochter Family)

CHEVY CHASE, Md. (AP) -- The family of an American college student killed in Egypt during violent protests says their son was passionate about the Middle East and was in the country teaching English.

Andrew Pochter, of Chevy Chase, Md., was killed Friday in Alexandria during clashes between government supporters and opponents. His family said in a statement Saturday that he was stabbed by a protester while observing the demonstrations.

Pochter's family says the 21-year-old spent his spring semester studying in Jordan. He was teaching English to children before a planned return this fall to Kenyon College in Ohio, where he majored in religious studies and co-managed the Hillel House Jewish organization.

His family says he cared deeply about Middle East culture and "planned to live and work there in the pursuit of peace and understanding."

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